Hey, I’ve been scheduled as a panelist for this year’s Norwescon in Seattle! Home city convention, familiar folks, great topics and inventive fun. Join us in storming Ye Olde Doubletree with all due precaution.

In other news, the Book 3 typed second draft manuscript just bust another seam in its folder. Words don’t take up a lot of space for all the hammering it takes, but they add up. Here’s to another 10 millimeters of story DNA. This is already the biggest book of the three.

Just for fun, this memento comes from last year’s World Fantasy Convention in Montreal. I had the typewriter at my dealer’s table offering lines of fantasy portraiture, and I received this one in return from author Shirley Meier. A touch of magic and mystery. Plus a little swag from convention neighbors: poet Leslie Wheeler, and The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming.

I’ve got my own beloved Hermes, and have had just that one for a long time. I was recently given a second backup from nearby author Thomas Fenley, which I haven’t needed. So when my poet friend Zakarya Baza expressed interest, I decided to hand it over! I like sharing the joy of the typewriter as a motivating experience for the wordcrafter. Smith-Corona delivered.